Saturday, November 26, 2011

She Should be Thanking Him

I have found that taking more of the lane can tend to subject me to fewer close passes. I have also found that more and more drivers are making ridiculously dangerous passes that could still get me, and others, killed. Black Friday was almost truly a dark day for 3 families. A driver named Debra made this pass and when I tracked her down and talked to her she told me when she went around me there was a guy coming toward her but no one was coming at the time she passed.

HUH? Let me get this straight, there was no one coming, but there was a guy coming toward her????

As you can see for yourself in the video the oncoming car was only 10-20 car lengths away when she started the pass. The only way she realistically didn't see that car was if she wasn't looking.

She said I shouldn't be talking to her about this, that I should call the police. I told her that if she really wanted me to call the police I would, but with my video she might be facing a ticket.

She apologized, but continually blamed the oncoming driver for not slowing down. It's not readily evident in the video but the driver did slow down and almost stopped as the 2 vehicles passed. If he hadn't there would almost certainly have been a crash.

I am tempted to involve the police, they might say since I waited to involve them they can't do anything about it. I think my phone call may have enough of an effect that she might actually be more careful next time. She should be thankful that the other driver actually did his best to avoid a crash.

5 comments:

fred_dot_u
said...

I've had a few drivers perform such overtakes on two-lane roadways with oncoming traffic, but never one so close as this one in the video! That's just crazy. There's no excuse, there's no justification at all for such a stupid move.

Here, in the Santa Cruz mountains, signs indicate that cyclists have right to use the whole lane when no bike lane exists and the road is a narrow 2-laner. Motorists on those roads are polite and keep their distance. Whew!

Perhaps you should take up an entire lane next time the road gets that narrow. My friend and I made an educational video about the rights and laws that pertain to bicyclists and automobile drivers.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCgNH_sOPgA&list=UUlwUEzOuzpnR2oDwtcwZfsw&index=1&feature=plcp